International Women’s Day: Authors

Hey Dolls,

 

Its finally International Women’s Day!

In honour of this momentous occasion, I am sharing with you some authors who are very close to my heart. These authors aren’t known worldwide like Margaret Atwood or J.K. Rowling, but they are well of their way there.

I have previously written about my Top 5 Feminist Reads or my Top 5 Books to Read in Your Twenties, but today I am taking a look at the women behind the books. These authors have all had a profound effect on me and I hope you love them as much as I do!

Tricia Levenseller

Bio: Tricia Levenseller is a YA author from Oregon, Portland. Her debut novel was Daughter of the Pirate King, followed by its sequel, Daughter of the Siren Queen. Having studied English Language and Editing, she spends her postgrad life writing, reading and playing Overwatch.

Nationality: American

Notable Works: Daughter of the Pirate King, Daughter of the Siren Queen, Warrior of the Wild.

Why: SO, like many of you, I am obsessed with the whole mermaid culture. I love the aesthetic, the style, the costumes and I love the books. So I began trying to find as many books that fed my mythical curiosity as possible, thus stumbled upon Levenseller. In all honesty, one of the biggest things about her Daughter Of books that drew me in was the red head female protagonist. Finally. Representation. That aside, Tricia provides that sea freshness to the YA genre. Her writing is fun, light, imaginative and gives you that girl power kick.

Reni Eddo-Lodge

Bio: Reni Eddo-Lodge is an award winning British journalist and author. She studied English Literature at the University of Central Lancashire and writes freelance for a variety of magazines and other publications.

Nationality: British, Nigerian heritage.

Notable Works: Why I’m no Longer Talking to White People About Race

Why: For my full review and discussion on Why I’m… click here. But for the purposes of this condensed post, I shall summarise. Reni Eddo-Lodge is the most honest, brutal and powerful writer I have read in a long time. We have all heard of her collection of essays, and if that is anything to go by, 2018 is going to be a very exciting year for her. As women, we know how it feels be treated unfairly because of our sex. Reni highlights how black women and women of other ethnic groups, feel this inequality tenfold because of their racial identity. As white women, we cannot understand nor comprehend what that degree is like. We can certainly try to imagine it but there is only so far we can go without experience. But, reading Reni’s essays has really helped me to open my eyes and see that my silence is complicity. My lack of “seeing colour” makes me a bystander to structural racism.

We should all read this book so we can understand the perspective of those who have been previously silenced.

Louise O’Neill

Bio: Louise O’Neill was born in 1985 in Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland. She has a BA in English Studies from Trinity College Dublin and prior to her career in publishing, she was an assistant stylist at Elle Magazine in New York.

Nationality: Irish

Notable Works: Only Ever Yours, Asking For It, Almost Love, Surface Breaks

Why: Louise O’Neill is the single most powerful writer I have ever come across. Someone once said she writes with a scalpel and that’s putting it mildly. She is the Angela Carter of the 21st century, swapping goths for lip gloss in her writing. Introductions aside, this woman made me a feminist. Through reading her brutally honest chapter in I Call Myself a Feminist I realised it was time to come out as a member of the F word community. Outside of that, she captures exactly what it is to be a young woman in the 4th wave of feminism. From social anxiety, to sex, to the medias portrayal of women, to slut shaming, she some how manages to portray the experiences of thousands of women within a single story.

Why should you read her work? Because it will help you to understand you are not alone.

Julia Ember

Bio: Julia Ember is a bisexual American author, living in Scotland. She has an MA in Medieval Literature, essentially making her a professional viking. She also has two cats named after Harry Potter characters and strives to write diverse stories.
Nationality: American
Notable Works: The Seafarers Kiss, Unicorn Tracks and The Tiger’s Watch
Why? Because for a long, long time, bisexual men and women have been sidelined. Our ability to love all genders has excluded us and thus made non-Bi’s ignorant to us. So Authors like Julia are important. In addition to this, she has written The Seafarers Kiss, an adaptation of The Little Mermaid, and yes, it is LGBTQ!

But why should you read Ember’s work? Because 1. its amazing 2. Its important to read books we wouldn’t normally pick, yes straight laced sally I am talking to you. And 3. she is a fantastic writer with so much talent and she will enrich your life.

Mira T Lee

Bio: Mira T Lee is a debut author of 2018. Prior to the release of Everything Here is Beautiful, she has had short stories published in a plethora of magazines. Outside of writing, she is a salsa dancer, biology graduate, drummer and graphic designer. Master of all trades to say the least.

Nationality: American

Notable Works: Everything Here is Beautiful.

Why: We are all guilty of only reading our favourite authors. So often when a new writer is on the block we haven’t the time to give them. But I promise you Lee is worth it. Her Debut novel Everything Here is Beautiful tells the story of two sisters whose mother has just died. It follows the ups and downs, the mental health, the love, the laughs, the tears that life encompasses and it is truly beautiful.
Why should you read it? In a world where each time we start to understand mental health, something often happens to take us back ten steps. So reading novels that not only beautifully explains what mental illness is, but tells it in such a way it feels as though your very soul has been spilled onto the pages, is just a profound experience, one we all must have.

So there you have it. These are the authors to watch out for this year. All with fantastic books having just been released or about to be.

Go forth women, and read!

Love,

 

HRH xox

 

 

Photos: authors are from their websites and pictures of their books are my own.